The field of the present invention relates to pyrotechnic devices and, more particularly, to an apparatus for supporting, in a stable manner, consumer-type ground-based pyrotechnics such as mortars, projectiles, multiple aerials, fountains, and other pyrotechnic devices.
Pyrotechnics, or fireworks as they are commonly called, were discovered or invented by the Chinese in the 2nd century B.C. and have been used ever since for everything from warding off evil spirits to fighting wars. In the United States, fireworks were used extensively on Jul. 4, 1777 as a way to mark the Declaration of Independence one year earlier. Ever since, Americans have used fireworks to celebrate not only their independence, but a variety of other noteworthy events such as elections, parades, parties, holidays, commemorations, and the like. In the year 2000 alone, Americans consumed 152 million pounds of fireworks, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. Unfortunately, in that same year fireworks devices were involved in 10 deaths and an estimated 11,000 injuries requiring professional medical care, with children under 15 accounting for almost half of all fireworks-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, 2000 Fireworks Annual Report.
One of the more dangerous events that can occur is when a firework that has been stationed on the ground is activated and accidentally tips over. For example, in a multiple aerial device which emits a series of colored fireballs, the device is designed to shoot the fireballs directly upward. If the firework is placed on uneven or soft ground, or somehow malfunctions, and the firework tips over, the firework may shoot the fireball sidewards toward spectators, potentially causing serious injury.
In order to stabilize ground-based fireworks, and help prevent this type of accident from happening, many consumer-type fireworks have been manufactured with a wide base or equipped with a plastic foundation glued to the bottom of a cardboard launching tube. Despite these configurations, U.S. injury statistics indicate these configurations have not proved adequate.
Homemade solutions for securing ground-based fireworks are feasible, but not very practical. Among other things, a homemade solution is inconvenient to build, inconsistent from one person to the next, may not be usable or accessible to all citizens, and has no mass production viability. Homemade solutions are, by their very nature, largely untested craft-produced objects that can be implemented only on a case-by-case basis and in limited situations.
The present inventor has recognized the need for a simple and robust method for more safely securing ground-based consumer fireworks.